RE:CHAIN OF MEMORIES
by Lady Michiko
Summary: Ever since Tsuna is nothing but a child, strange dreams visits her every night. the mystery kept going until the fateful day. will she ever collect all of the fragmented memories before they hunt her down? GUARDIANSX27. MAIN PARING F27X18. REWRITTEN VERSION. R&R. SLOW DEVELOPMENT.


**RE: CHAIN OF MEMORIES**

* * *

 **Summary: Ever since Tsuna was nothing but a child, strange dreams visit her every night. The mystery of the dreams kept happening until the fateful day. Will she ever collect all of her fragmented memories before they hunt her down?**

 **RATED T TO BE SAFE**

* * *

 **BETA BY: AMBIGUOUS PERSON**

* * *

"Speaking..."

 _ _Thoughts/internal dialogue/flashbacks/dreams/other, etc...__

 _ _"Speaking in dreams..."__

 _Thoughts in dreams..._

 ** **Lyrics, singing...****

* * *

 **Chapter 1: Dream Fragments**

* * *

A—re? Where am I?

Why is it so dark?

 _ _They looked around to see nothing but darkness. However, when they looked down at their hands, they were relieved to find them visible to their eyes. The question was…__ _Why am I glowing?_

 _Suddenly, a feeling of lightness overcame them. It felt like they were flying or more like floating._

Did I mention, I'm floating naked? I guess not.

 _ _Then, the view changed before their eyes, and if they weren't floating before, they found themselves sitting down on soft, green grass. This time, they were wearing a sleeveless, white dress. They, or rather she, wondered at the dress she was wearing, picking at the skirt, which she noticed had a longer train from the back, almost touching her ankles.__

 _ _It was a simple, but beautiful high-low dress with a sweetheart neckline and an A-line skirt. The dress had little to no embellishments, other than the lace overlay that lined the neckline and hemline of the skirt.__

 _ _She was also barefoot, but she had matching white ribbons lacing up her legs, from her ankles to just below her knees, before tying off in a bow on opposite sides of her knees. She also had similar ribbons lacing down her arms, from her elbows to her wrists.__

 _ _She looked up when she heard someone playing a soothing melody. It sounded like a music box. She closed her eyes as she listened and unconsciously began moving towards where she heard the music was coming from.__

 _ _As she moved closer to the music, she passed through some bushes, hearing the melody a little louder, only to find—__

* * *

 **KRINGGG! KTINGGG! KRIN—!**

Smack! Smash!

Groaning at the rude wake up call, a girl sat up straight on her bed, her blankets falling around her waist. She thought about her recurring dream, she was so close to finding that soothing melody! She cursed her now broken alarm clock for disturbing her from her dreams.

She sighed, it was another peaceful day, yet she can't help but feel sorely disappointed. Looking at her wall clock, it read 6:30, meaning she still has an hour to spare before school starts. With an extra hour to spare, she might not be late to school.

Making her bed and setting out her school uniform, she proceeded to do her usual morning routine. After a good fifteen minute in the bathroom, she was bathed and properly dressed in her school uniform.

She wore a white long-sleeved white-button up blouse with a red ribbon around its collar and a yellow jacket with the school's emblem emblazoned on the left-hand side breast pocket, a dark-blue, knee-length pleated skirt with black knee-high socks, and black loafers.

Standing before a mirror, she decided to leave her hair loose. It was a mess and a half when it came to taming her hair into a decent hairstyle. She was just lucky her hair was easy to manage, and the end result was her hair always ended up looking and feeling silky soft and fluffy.

Grabbing her school bag, she slowly climbed down the stairs, careful not to trip as she's prone to do and made her way towards the kitchen to get herself a glass of milk and a quick breakfast of buttered toast, otherwise she'll run late for school.

Getting out the house with a slice of toast, she walked in a leisurely manner towards her destination, school. Now, why did that sound so unappealing?

* * *

 _ _Ah, I haven't introduced myself yet, now did I? Not that it's not important, because it is!__

 _ _My name is Sawada Tsunayoshi, but you can call me Tsuna! It sounds boyish, doesn't it?__

 _ _I am sixteen years old and currently residing in Namimori, Japan.__

 _ _Today is actually my first day in high school. I was suppose to go to Midori High School, but it'll be a hassle maintaining my grades since they have high standards… not to mention the expensive tuition fee— Well, not that I'm not saying, Nami-kou doesn't have high standards—__

 _ _Oh, right… 'Nami-kou' is short for 'Namimori Koukou,' I read it in a school magazine. Don't blame for someone else's bad naming sense.__

 _ _Ahem!__

 _ _Anyways, now that I've introduced myself, I'll tell you a little about my life.__

 _ _Let's see…__

 _ _When I was five years old, my father died in a very disturbing accident. It wasn't as horrible as far as I know, the man just magically disappeared one day, and the police declared him dead.__

 _ _My mother couldn't get over the fact that my idiot of a father is dead. I might sound harsh, but I hardly knew the man, so I wasn't as affected as my mother. Then she died in a car accident. I was nine years old when it happened.__

 _ _Ever since then I've been living with some distant relatives on my mother's side of the family. She didn't have a lot of direct relatives and I knew almost nothing about my father's side of the family, if he even had relatives.__

 _ _When I turned fifteen, I decided to return to my hometown because of a feeling I had when I was twelve years old. I called it 'the calling.' I know, it's not very original, but it was an inexplicable force that's 'calling' me to go back. It may be unreasonable to blindly follow a feeling, but I trust my instincts, thank you very much.__

 _ _Now, in relation to that feeling, I get the same feeling in my dreams, where I hear that soothing melody that I desperately want to know who it belongs to. That melody is the only thing that I can remember with clarity. Well, to tell you the truth, I've been getting strange, recurring dreams ever since my parents died.__

 _ _Hearing that melody was a first because the dreams always began where I was walking through a dark void, which was completely black with a touch of violet. Then a fancy door that would seem to be the exit of the dark mysterious space would appear. Unfortunately, I always find myself waking up before I could open that door.__

 _ _My dream today wasn't as new, other than hearing that melody, I also caught a glimpse of a figure. A man, well, assuming the figure was a man. I only caught sight of short, platinum blond hair and what looked to to be a dark-grey, double-breasted trench coat. Everything else was blurry and hazy. That's the only thing I could probably remember.__

* * *

Tsuna found herself nearing the school while completely lost in her thoughts. Already, students could be seen walking through the school gates and mingling with their friends since there was still time before the first bell.

It was still early so Tsuna decided to make a detour to a park she passed by earlier. The park made a beautiful sight, surrounded by rows of cherry blossom trees in full bloom. A beautiful sign of the beginning of spring.

She breathed in the scent of cherry blossoms and began to sing a soft melody to herself.

 ** **Kudarizaka fumikiri made atashi wa muchuu de hashitta****

 ** **Kono koi wo saegiru you ni densha wa sugisatta****

She smiled when she felt the wind playfully run through her hair.

 ** **Tooi hi no kioku umi no kagayaki kisetsu wa meguru****

 ** **Hikoukigumo ni me wo hosomete~****

The rise and fall of her voice seemed to interact with the wind and she watched in awe as a gust of wind carried a swirl of cherry blossoms to her person.

 ** **Chiisaku yureta himawari~****

 ** **Sayonara mo ienai mama~****

 ** **Honno suu miri no sukima de sotto ku-su-bu-ru itami****

Enjoying the wind in her hair and the scent of cherry blossoms, Tsuna continued her song, unaware of the beautiful sight she made to a hidden presence, who was watching her curiously.

 ** **Manatsu ni kieta hanabi ga~ namida no saki ni utsureba~****

 ** **I will kitto omoidasu wa****

 ** **Anata ni todoke kono basho de****

 ** **Atashi wa matteiru~****

Tsuna smiled as she ended her song, feeling much better compared to when she first woke up this morning. As she was getting her bag, which she placed down by her feet, she heard a faint noise coming from one of the largest cherry blossom tree closest to her. The presence was gone before she could check it out, only seeing a flash of black against the pink of the cherry blossoms. It looked like the jacket of a gakuran.

 _ _Who was that?__ Tsuna's thoughts were interrupted by the sound of the school bell. She gasped and quickly made her way to her new school. She only had a minimum of ten minutes before her first class.

* * *

Standing outside her classroom, Tsuna nervously played with her hair as she waited for the teacher to call her in. She could hear students' chatter amongst themselves before the teacher called for their attention.

"Ohayou, minna! I'm Tokigawa Mikuru, and I'll be your homeroom and English teacher for this coming school year. I hope we all get along, nee~" Tokigawa-sensei said.

"Now, before we begin, we have a new transfer student joining our class today." Taking that as her cue, Tsuna readied herself just as the door slid open, revealing her new homeroom and English teacher, who gestured for her to come in.

Walking inside the classroom, Tsuna was met with the gaze of more than one student. Outwardly, she was as cool as a cucumber, but inwardly, she was a wreck of nerves. She moved towards the blackboard and swiftly wrote her name in quick, neat strokes of the chalk before facing her teacher and classmates. She mustered up all the confidence she has, which wasn't a lot at the moment, to stand in front of the class without shaking.

"Let's get to know each other, nee? Please introduce yourself to the class, dear." Tokigawa-sensei said with a smile.

"My n-name is S-Sawada Ts-Tsunayoshi," Tsuna gulped and cursed herself for stuttering. She licked her lips before continuing, "I just recently moved her from Hachimori. Please take care of me." She finished with a stiff bow, ignoring the class as it erupted in murmurs, before turning to her teacher.

Tokigawa-sensei clapped her hands and said, "Alright class, please settle down. Sawada-san, please sit beside Yamamoto-san. Yamamoto-san, please raise your hand." On cue, a black-haired boy with a goofy grin, raised his hand.

Walking down the aisle, Tsuna sat down on her designated desk. She remained tense in her seat as all the students seemed to watch her every movement.

 _ _Wow, they must not get a lot of transfers if their blatant staring couldn't get any more__ _ _obvious.__ Tsuna didn't relax until Tokigawa-sensei called for the attention of the class, relieving her of the students' staring. It was very unnerving

"Alright, class. Since Sawada-san just transferred and the rest of you are already acquainted with each other… So, to make Sawada-san feel more welcome, you will introduce yourselves, as well as tell a little something about yourself."

Tsuna paid little to no attention as each student introduced themselves. It was a full class, and with her addition, a total of twenty-four students. She counted four columns and six rows of desks. The very first column was lined by the door, while the fourth was by the windows. She was in the fourth column, and sat in the fourth row of desks.

During the snippets of introductions, she learned that the girl with short orange hair sitting in front of her was named Sasagawa Kyoko, and sitting beside her was her best friend, Kurokawa Hana, a girl with long, wavy dark hair. And of course, the boy who was sitting next to her was Yamamoto Takeshi, the resident baseball ace.

He looked really familiar to her for some reason, but she's never met him in her life. Shrugging off the feeling, Tsuna tuned out the rest of the class as Tokigawa-sensei began her lesson.

* * *

After a long day, Tsuna's last class ended earlier than expected. Gathering her belongings, she was about to leave the classroom when someone blocked her way. She recognized Sasagawa Kyoko and Kurokawa Hana, she noticed that they were in most of classes, as well, as that baseball idiot, Yamamoto Takeshi. His mind was filled with nothing but baseball, so Tsuna dubbed him 'baseball idiot.'

"Sawada-chan, would you like to go to town with us? We're just going to the shopping district since class ended early today." Tsuna snapped out of her thoughts when she heard Sasagawa's question.

She tensed when she felt someone put their arm over her shoulders. She looked at the arm that was touching her so familiarly and saw that it belonged to Yamamoto Takeshi, who still had that perpetual grin on his face.

"Haha! That's a good idea! Wanna hang out, Tsuna?"

"Please don't be so familiar with me, Yamamoto-san. We just met," Tsuna said as she removed his arm from his shoulders before turning to the girls, "I appreciate the offer, Sasagawa-san, but I'm afraid that I would have to decline. I just moved here a few days ago, and so, I still have a lot of things to take care of."

"Ah, that's right! I'm sorry, Sawada-chan. It seems that I forgot about that with the excitement of your transfer. We don't get transfer students that often. How about some other time, then?" Sasagawa said with a bright smile, Kurokawa was just beside her, shaking her head at her friend's obliviousness.

Tsuna gave her a nod in reply and a smile to be polite before bowing her head and leaving quietly.

* * *

A few weeks have passed and life in Namimori was filled with nothing but peaceful days. There was nothing much to do, but it wasn't as boring as her previous town.

Sitting in her last class for the day, Tsuna waited for the last bell to ring, signalling the end of the class. She was just putting her things in her bag when she saw Yamamoto approach her desk with a very plastic smile plastered on his face. It was becoming a regular sight when it came to the baseball ace and she could tell that there was something really bothering him, but didn't really know how to broach the subject.

In the first few days of her transfer, Tsuna managed to befriend Yamamoto, Sasagawa, and Kurokawa. They've been a great help with classwork or homework, well it was mostly Kurokawa doing the helping. Yamamoto was too baseball obsessed that anything that came out of his mouth didn't make sense with his weird baseball analogies, and Sasagawa was too airheaded, that even Kurokawa assented to her friend's rather oblivious personality.

"Hey, Tsuna! Do you have a minute?" Tsuna sighed when she heard Yamamoto call her name. She snapped her bag closed and waited for him to near her. It was a lost cause to stop him from calling her so familiarly, she tried and it didn't work.

"Please don't tell me you're here to confess you have feelings for me." she said sarcastically.

Yamamoto let a laugh that sounded happy if she didn't know him better, "That's not a bad idea," he grinned. "But sadly no, I'm here to ask you for some advice since you know, you're just getting to know me." his smile became slightly strained before brightening into an even faker smile.

"You know I'm in the baseball team, right?" Tsuna just nodded to show that she was listening.

"You see, my play has been declining and I noticed that the sharpness and speed of my pitch has been decreasing. The strength of my batting has also weakened and I'm not hitting or throwing as far as I used to." Yamamoto explained, his smile disappearing as his shoulders slumped forward in dejection.

Tsuna was surprised he was telling her about a personal problem when they've only known each other a few short weeks, not even a full month yet. She's not exactly sure what he wants her to say, but since he's asking her for her advice, she wasn't going to let him down.

"I was hoping if you could give me some advice…" Tsuna twitched at the pathetic, puppy-eyed look Yamamoto was giving her at the end of his explanation. She didn't even think he was doing it consciously. She sighed under her breath and pinched the bridge of her nose with her forefinger and thumb at the oncoming headache. She could already tell that this would give her some trouble in the near future, but it must be important to him that he was willing to ask her for some advice.

"I do have some advice, but you have to make sure you follow through with it," she said seriously, and gestured for him to lead the way. "For now, let's head to your place so we can talk."

Tsuna stopped in her tracks when she realized what she said sounded like, before hurriedly adding on, "And see your equipment, so I know what you're workin' with." she said, scratching her cheeks with a nervous grin.

* * *

Tsuna followed behind Yamamoto as he lead the way to his house, babbling some baseball nonsense to fill the silence. She just nodded at appropriate times to show she was listening, but otherwise, she didn't understand a word he says.

Yamamoto's house was surprisingly a traditional Japanese home. It was connected to a sushi shop named, 'TakeSushi,' in the front. They entered through the back door and Tsuna looked around curiously as Yamamoto called out to his dad.

"Pops, I'm home! And I brought someone over! We'll be in my room!" Yamamoto shouted before an older man who looked a lot like Yamamoto, only older, comes through a door.

Tsuna bowed politely and introduced herself, "I'm Sawada Tsunayoshi, Yamamoto-kun's classmate."

"Maa~ What a polite girl! My name is Yamamoto Tsuyoshi, Takeshi's father."

"Nice to meet you, Yamamoto-san—"

"Now, none of that 'Yamamoto-san' nonsense, please call me Tsuyoshi, Tsuna-chan!" Tsuna could only blink at Tsuyoshi's very open and friendly personality, it seems that it's a trait that he passed down to his son, who was the same when they first met.

"Make yourself at home, Tsuna-chan!" Tsuyoshi said with a grin. "It's been awhile since Takeshi brought someone over though, let alone a girl. Are you perhaps, his girlfriend?"

Tsuna blushed at his rather forward comment and found her shoes that much more interesting as Tsuyoshi let a booming laughter.

"Pops, stop embarrassing my classmate! We're just friends!" Tsuna was too out of it to notice that Yamamoto grabbed her hand and began to pull her along and before she knew it, she was sitting on a cushion before a low table in his room.

"Wait here a sec, I'll just gather my equipment." Tsuna watched as Yamamoto shuffled around his room gathering his things before setting them on the low table.

"So, what's this advice?" he asked as he sat down across from Tsuna, who was eyeing the equipment on the table.

"You are not allowed to use any of your training equipment for four days straight," Tsuna said rather abruptly and very bluntly, ignoring Yamamoto's look of surprise. "I will confiscate them myself, if I have to, or ask your father to confiscate them, leading you to answer any of his questions."

"For the next four days, you have to do this if you want to get back to your usual self." she said before bringing out ten thick pads o inch colored paper. She bought them on a whim one day and brought it with her today since she felt that they would be useful, and she was right in a way.

"You have to fold one thousand paper cranes during your four day break, and if I catch you using _any_ training equipment or practicing baseball, then you can consider this little friendly advice a waste of time. You asked for advice and I gave you advice, so I expect you to follow them." Tsuna made sure to give him a pointed look, showing him that she was serious.

Yamamoto just looked resigned at the end of her lecture and sighed before putting his equipment away and out of sight, so he won't be tempted to use them.

"I guess, I'll get started on your advice, then." Tsuna paid no mind as Yamamoto began folding paper cranes rather clumsily. His first crane came out as a crude, crumpled version of a simple origami that Tsuna had to properly instruct him on how to fold a paper crane. He knew how to make one, just that he was _very_ out of practice.

After making sure that he could fold a proper paper crane, Tsuna began to drift in her thoughts, feeling drowsy and before she knew it, her eyes fell close under heavy eyelids, dreaming of a familiar, yet unknown place.

* * *

 _ _Tsuna opened her eyes and found herself standing in a meadow, wearing the same white dress in her previous dream.__

 _ _She heard the same nostalgic tune playing in the wind and she circled around herself, trying to determine where the music was coming from before deciding to head off in a random direction. The music sounded like it was coming from every direction, there was really no lead as to where it was originally coming from.__

 _ _After walking for some time, following the sound of music, the scene before her shifted, and Tsuna found herself standing beside a large tree with unknown blossoms. She could see two people engaged in a conversation, but she was too far away to hear them well.__

 _ _Moving a little closer, she could see two men talking to each other. She could tell that one was foreign, maybe Italian, and the other was distinctly Japanese, from his clothes alone.__

 _"_ _ _She really doesn't know how to hold back on us, don't you think?" a man clad in what a nobleman in the Imperial Court of Japan during the Heian era would wear, laughed as he and his companion watched someone from afar.__

 _"_ _ _Of course, you idiot! Who do you think she is?" said another man dressed in a white collared shirt which has a few buttons unbuttoned with a loose dark green tie around his neck, and black trousers, before looking back in the same direction as his Japanese companion.__

 _"_ _ _I just don't understand what she sees in that bastard." he spat out bitterly. Just from the sound of his voice, Tsuna could tell for sure that the man was wearing a frown at the moment, though she did wonder who they were talking about.__

 _"_ _ _Maa, maa, don't look like that~ We all accepted her decision, and we all knew whom she has feelings for, and we all agreed that as long as he takes care of her…" before Tsuna could hear more of their conversation, she could feel a force pulling her away. The last thing she heard was the laughter of the man in blue and white robes of the Heian era.__

* * *

Tsuna groaned as she felt some shake her awake. She blearily opened her eyes to see dark brown eyes looking down on her in concern.

"Yamamoto-kun?" she asked as she rubbed the sleep from her eyes.

"Yo, Tsuna. I tried waking you up several times, but you wouldn't wake up. It's already half past eight," Yamamoto said, his expression worried. "Are you alright?"

"Half past eight?! I-I need to go home!" Tsuna gasped when she realized how late it was and began to gather her things.

"Pops says you should eat dinner and stay for the night since it's already so late. You're house is far from here, isn't?"

"I don't think that'll be appropriate, Yamamoto-kun. People will think differently." she said looking out his window to see that the sky was already dark.

"You will have to stay the night, young lady," Tsuna turned to look towards the new voice to see Tsuyoshi standing before the door to his son's room. "We have a guest bedroom you can use, and some clothes you can borrow for the night. I don't want you walking home this late at night." he said as he gestured for her to follow.

"Are you sure it's okay for me to stay the night, Tsuyoshi-san? I've already stayed my welcome and I don't want to be a bother." Tsuna said quietly as she followed behind Yamamoto's dad.

"What nonsense!" she looked up in surprise as Tsuyoshi let out a laugh. "Feel free to be at home, Tsuna-chan. It's been awhile since we've had a visitor after all."

Tsuna looked around the room she would be staying in for the night. It was a simple and neat room, obviously meant for a guest.

"Well, there are some clothes and towels in the drawers. Takeshi will show you to the bathroom, and after you freshen up, please come join us for dinner." Tsuyoshi said with a smile before leaving her in the room to prepare for the night.

The dinner was nothing fancy, but Tsuyoshi prepared a lot of sushi and Tsuna was amazed to see such a wide variety. She was happy to say that each and everyone she had tasted delicious.

Tsuna enjoyed dinner with the Yamamotos, both father and son are very alike in looks and personality. The only difference she could see was the younger Yamamoto was a lot more, shall we say, blind to the world and very naïve.

Then she learned that Tsuyoshi was well acquainted with her parents. She never knew her parents had any friends, and if they did, they never mentioned them, so it came as a surprise to Tsuna to learn that Tsuyoshi was friends with her parents.

She thanked him politely when he offered his condolences and assured him that she's been taken good care of by her relatives, and had a relatively good life since her parent's passing. After that, Tsuyoshi moved onto a more lighter subject and began to talk about his son's childhood with the younger Yamamoto chipping in, now and then, showing that he didn't mind talking about his childhood like other kids their age.

* * *

After a few days since her impromptu stay with the Yamamotos, Tsuna found herself walking up to the school's rooftop when she heard someone shouting that Yamamoto was trying to kill himself by jumping off the roof.

Opening the door the the school's rooftop, Tsuna scoffed at the group of students crowding around, trying to stop Yamamoto from jumping. If they didn't want him to jump, they should move closer and drag him off the edge of the proverbial cliff, instead of grouping and spouting nonsense that was nothing but empty words. They were just wasting their time and she hasn't eaten her lunch yet.

If she was at the receiving end of their shallow words, they would just convince her even more to jump off the roof. They didn't even sound concerned!

The longer Tsuna listened to their words, the more she was convinced that they were actually trying to make Yamamoto jump to his death.

Tsuna walked past the crowd of ignorant students and approached the figure looming over the edge of the rooftop. She eyed the fence that was suppose to prevent situations like this from happening, it looked rather old and rusted. It didn't look stable at all, and she wondered how he even climbed over the fence without breaking it and falling to his death. His weight enough should have done the deal and broken the fence.

Clearing her throat, she caught Yamamoto's attention and gave him a pointed look, "If you want to die so badly, please do it somewhere else. I don't want to come to this school knowing that you willingly splattered your bloody guts all over the school grounds."

Tsuna was nonplussed as she heard Yamamoto's hollow, depressing laugh, and simply crossed her arms over her chest and raised a single brow waiting for a valid explanation to his sudden bout of suicidal idiocy.

"You really know how to be mean, Tsuna." he said with a grim smile before looking down at his feet.

"I think the baseball gods have abandoned me… Everyone always sees me as the baseball ace, the popular face in the crowd, never as Takeshi or even a person. You already know the reason why I love to play baseball, Tsuna.

"My mom always wanted to see me smiling when I play my favorite sport. I love baseball, but since my play's not improving, I would let my team down, and then, no one would look at me the same."

Tsuna remained silent as she listened to Yamamoto talk about his problems, soft enough so that only she could hear him speak. The students behind her were just getting louder in their clamoring to convince Yamamoto from jumping off the roof. She wanted them to shut up and leave because they were just getting in the way with their so called 'help,' which was pathetic at best, and would only push Yamamoto over the edge and end his life.

"Did you follow my advice for the past four days?" she asked calmly, gaining a confused look from the depressed and apparently suicidal Yamamoto, who nodded his head in reply anyway.

"Meet me at the baseball fields after classes end for the day and you'll understand why I gave you that kind of advice." Tsuna turned on her heels and began to walk back inside the school without bothering to look back if Yamamoto decided to follow her or not. There was still ten minutes left until the lunch hour was over, she wanted to have something in her stomach to last her the rest of the day.

She was right the first time when Yamamoto asked for her help. Today was filled with unnecessary trouble and drama that she was getting a headache just thinking about it, and her empty stomach wasn't helping her case at all.

* * *

Yamamoto looked at Tsuna's retreating back and debated whether or not he should listen to what she said.

After a moment of thinking and watching Tsuna disappear back inside the school, he decided to listen to her instead and carefully climb back over the rickety fence with a sense of relief. He didn't even realize how close he was to his death just from climbing the unstable fence, he was just glad he was fast on his feet.

He ignored the group of students and followed after Tsuna with a shadow of a real smile on his face.

As promised, Yamamoto met with Tsuna in the baseball fields after their classes ended.

* * *

After her class ended, Tsuna made her way outside to the baseball fields and waited for Yamamoto while carelessly tossing a baseball in her hand. She didn't wait long and when she saw him approaching, she caught the baseball in her toss and waved for him to come closer.

"Here," she said, handing him the baseball when he was within reach, ignoring his surprised look. "If you really followed my advice, then you should be fine. Now, try pitching that ball with everything you have."

Yamamoto nodded, staring at the baseball in his hand before getting into position. He reared his hand back behind his head, gripping the ball tight, and with as much strength he could muster, Yamamoto threw the ball with everything he has.

He gaped in surprise as the ball disappeared from his sight. It looked like it went farther and faster than when he hits a homerun! And that was with a bat!

He looked back and forth at his hand and Tsuna in amazement.

"W-What was that? Yamamoto asked in a breathless whisper, adrenaline pumping through his blood at that one pitch.

"That my clueless friend, is a _real_ pitch." Tsuna said with a smile before yelping in surprise as Yamamoto suddenly hugged her tightly, almost lifting her off the ground, while letting loose breathless laughter. She just sighed in fond exasperation as she awkwardly patted Yamamoto on the back before she was let down on her feet again.

"Tsuna, whatever your advice is was amazing!" he said, with a wide grin. It was a real, honest, and genuine smile.

"That smile looks better on you," Tsuna said softly. "That's good for, isn't it, Yamamoto-kun."

"Takeshi, call me Takeshi. I already call you by your first name anyways." he said, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly, before asking, "Is there some secret behind the paper folding? Like giving me more finger power when I pitch?"

Tsuna laughed softly at the blatant curiosity in his voice and said, "That, my friend, is called resting."

"Resting?" he said confused.

"The reason your pitch was getting slow was because your arm was getting tired," Tsuna explained while making a gesture of pitching a ball. "The harder you pitch, the more pressure you put on your arm, particularly in your shoulder and elbow. When your arm gets tired, the sharpness will dull because of the constant heavy pressure applied on your arm."

By the time Tsuna was finished with her explanation, Takeshi was looking at her like she hit a homerun and won them the national championships.

"Wow, I didn't know you know a lot about baseball!"

 _ _I don't, it's common sense, you baseball nut__ _._ Tsuna thought as Takeshi laughed and put his arm around her shoulders. "Let's go get ice cream, my treat!"

She really didn't want to know what went inside Takeshi's head other than baseball, eat, sleep, rinse and repeat.

"Resting is also part of training, Yama— er— Takeshi-kun, please remember that." Tsuna said, but she thinks that it just went in one ear and out the other as Takeshi babbled about some games he played when he was younger.

Tsuna just shook her head, and smiled in amusement as they walked to a nearby ice cream parlor.

She thought about the Japanese man she saw in her dreams and remembered that his laugh was very similar to how Takeshi laughs. She glanced at Takeshi, who was smiling brightly as he talked about a baseball game and a time when he accidentally threw a dead ball.

 _ _Maybe it was just a coincidence their laugh sounded alike?__ She thought unsure to herself as they walked inside the ice cream parlor to get some ice cream.

 _Right…?_

* * *

 **TBC…**


End file.
